Black Plague

Chapter 17

Everyone started to file away after a while. I was happy to see them go. Because of their shock, everyone seemed to be staring at me. Trying to wrap their heads around the fact that I wasn't a Potter at all, but a Black. I wasn't sure I loved that fact that everyone knew my mom was a cheating bitch, but eventually I shrugged it off. I didn't know her, or have any loyalty to her. What did it matter to me? I shouldn't matter. She meant nothing to me. She was just a nice story people liked to tell. All Myths. And clearly the reality was something completely different. My mom was nothing but a whore, or as far as I could tell. I already knew about two separate lovers she had outside her husband. My father, and Snape. I found it likely she had more. After all, what was the likelihood I would learn about her only two affairs right after entering the Wizarding world? Not likely.
Eventually people made plans to meet at Malfoy Manor next Saturday to brush up and polish their fighting techniques.
"So Harry." I looked at Draco. But cut him off. "Please don't call me Harry. Harry Potter's a myth, a legend. Call me my actual name. Hadrian."
Understanding flashed through his eyes, and he nodded. "So Hades is short for Hadrian." He stated. I nodded. "Alright, so Hadrian, if you're a Black, that means we're cousins. My mom's a Black."
"Really?" Not sure how much I cared. I learned early, family was just as bad as everyone else. You couldn't trust them. And they definitely wouldn't love you, just because you shared blood.
"Yes. My mom would love to meet you." I shrugged. He seemed incredibly excited to be related to me. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the house, we weaved through one hallway after another. After the third turn I was completely lost.
We turned into a beautiful sunroom and I saw a beautiful blond woman standing poised by the window looking out, almost longingly. Like a trapped zoo animal looking out of their glass enclosure.  Longing for freedom.
"Mother let me introduced you to your nephew. This is Hadrian Potter, Sirius' son" she turn gracefully from the window and studied me like a fascinating artifact.
"So you are, I'm Lady Malfoy. It's nice to meet you."
I gave a polite smile "It's nice to meet you Lady Malfoy."
She kept looking at me "of course my wayward cousin would have an affair with his best friends wife. She was a beautiful woman after all. And he could never resist having beautiful things." She said with a sigh.
I nodded. I had heard, though I had never seen pictures. The way everyone seemed to fall in love with her, it wasn't really a surprise. 
"Well, will I be seeing you around again?" She asked. Her melodic voice almost singing. I nodded. "yes, the Dark Lord has seen fit to train me. So I will be here every weekend." She inclined her head in acknowledgment. "Very well. Draco, why don't you take Hadrian to the dinner hall, you guys must be hungry. It's nearly lunch."
Draco bowed his head. "Yes mother."
And we began weave back through the house.
I found their interactions interesting. There was no warmth, or obvious love. The whole encounter was entirely formal. I tucked that information away in my mind and walked a step behind Draco, as we made our way to the dining  room.
The room was ridiculously large. I don't know why I expected a normal dining room. There was an enormous fireplace in the center and a long table running along the length of the room. Two grandiose chandeliers hung above the table.
I squared my shoulders and pretended to not be effected by the opulence of the room. I refused to look intimidated by the shear overabundance of it all. I followed Draco and sat sat next to the chair in from the end. "Tinky, I need lunch for me and a guest." I small little creature popped out of nowhere, wearing what looked to be a dirty pillowcase around their tiny body. They nodded excitedly and bowed. "Yes master" they squeaked in a small, high pitched voice, then disappeared with a pop. Soon, they reappeared with two plates of food. It was a simple tomato soup, salad and rolls. I had to watch Draco in order to know how to eat properly. There was a multitude of silverwear. I mirrored him on which spoon I used, and the fork eat the salad. Which to eat first. And so on. I sat tall, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that this was a foreign experience for me.
I jumped when I felt someone sit next to me. "This whole thing is daunting isn't it?" I turned to look to my left and found Voldemort sitting next to me. How had I not heard him come in? I looked around and saw Snape and Lord Malfoy sitting at the table as well. I nodded subtly. "I remember coming here the first time while attending Hogwarts. After being raised in an orphanage, this was like a whole different world. I guess in a way it is. But like you, I was raised with nothing. Then you walk into a lords palace and feel completely out of your element. It's incredibly disconcerting". I was stunned. "You don't have parents either?" He gave me a sly smile. "My father was alive, well until I killed him for abandoning me. But no, I was raised without parents too." My eyes lit up. "I knew there was a reason I feel a connection between us. I knew you could understand me." He smiled almost tenderly at me. "Yes. We have had very similar lives as children." I grinned at him. Finally feeling like I wasn't alone. I watched as he eat with utter poise. You would never know he wasn't raised in this sort of environment. I vowed to myself that I to would learn the ins and outs of this life and become just as adept. I straightened my back further and continued the task of eating. Making sure I followed all the social cues and used the correct mannerism. I would be like Voldemort, acting as though I belonged here. Never giving any outward indication that this wasn't the environment I was raised in.
I found it interesting that Lord Malfoy wasn't sitting at the head of the table. Voldemort was. He sat on his right hand across from me and Snape across from Draco. I realized Draco had given me a seat of authority. I wondered if it was intentional. Probably, after seeing my favor with Voldemort, he knew I should have a seat next to him. Everything was about power and authority. I should have realized immediately what he was doing, but it hadn't even crossed my mind. Now as everyone sat it all began to piece together in my mind.
As I finished up my food Voldemort spoke to me again. I looked up at him. "Come. Let's discuss your training." I nodded with a small smile. I got up with him and followed him to the back garden. He sat down on a stone bench and pointed to the grass in front of him.
"What all do you know?"  I was stumped and my mouth opened and closed a few times. "I don't know. Lots of stuff. I have flash cards with everything I know on them. Every time I learn a spell I write it down. So, I can review them every weekend. And make sure I have the incantation and wand movement memories. It's a few inches thick. So it takes the full weekend to review."
He nodded. "I noticed you were doing Wordless magic most of them time during our sparing session today." I smiled and nodded. "I began working on that this week. I figured it would come in handy in the future. This summer I plan to work on Wandless magic."
He nodded, and gave me a slight smile. "Impressive. What's your favorite spell?" I smiled up at him. "I like pretty much all mind magic. I really like Legilimecy, but I also really like giving people fake memories. That comes in really handy."
"That reminds me. I am curious to see you perform Legilimecy. I would like to see how well that's coming along." He told me.
I hesitated. "you want me to do it now?" I asked shyly.
He chuckled. "Yes, now"
I nodded and steeled my nerves. Took a deep breath and began scanning his thought. Gently I began to scan through his memories of today. Then moved further back. It was weird. His thoughts were completely disjointed. Like he had two separate consciences. He had melded with the original Voldemort, but he was also almost separate. It had to feel very odd for him. He had two separate memories of things. Like being trapped in the book. I found he seemed really lonely and sad inside that diary for the last 50 years. I saw the desperation as he was vanquished during my attempted murder. I watched through his eyes as he killed my mother. I knew I should feel something. Anything. But I just didn't. It meant almost nothing to me. He could have been killing a random homeless muggle and I would have felt the same amount of nothing. She was a complete stranger to me. I felt the fear and desperation as he learned the prophecy. I could feel his complete madness. Eventually I pulled out clearly he wouldn't stop me. And I looked at him. "Did you feel anything?"
He furrowed is brow. "Well, I was watching for it. But the most I felt was a small tingle. But it was just for a split second. And I'm not even sure if I truly felt it, or imagined it." I clutched my hands tight as I forced myself to sit still. Wanting to squeal and giggle and cheer with excitement. Instead, I grinned so big it probably looked manic.
"Tell me, what all did you see?" I began to tell him everything I saw. I didn't want to tell him about his loneliness and rage, but he had to already know, so I began to tell him everything.
"So you saw your mother's death. How did that make you feel?" I shrugged. "I didn't feel a thing. She's a stranger. I don't know her. Everyone is right. She was beautiful. But I felt nothing. She could have been a random person on the street and I would have felt the same." I sighed.
He smirked. "Does that upset you?" I tilted my head in thought. Does my lack of sadness bother me?. "Not really. I probably should feel angry, or hurt. She is my mom. But like Snape says, I'm probably a sociopath. So maybe that's why she means nothing to me." I shrugged.
He laughed. "He says your a sociopath?" I smirked. "Well, to be fair. He thinks both of us are. He thinks that's why we seem to understand each other so well." He continued to chuckle. Just shaking his head.
"Yes, perhaps he's right." He said thoughtfully with a beautiful smile on his face. His smile making me melt inside. My gods, he was beautiful.